"One of the things that we absolutely have to ensure is that standards are maintained and we can see that candidates are reaching those standards and attaining as they have done in the past."

In Maths the attainment rate rose to 74% from 73.5% last year at Higher, while in English the attainment rate dropped from 78.8% in 2016 to 77.3% this year.

Pass marks were around 50% with no repeat of the problems with the 2015 maths exam.

Dr Brown said: "Everything has worked as we would expect and our systems have worked as we wanted them to, to ensure candidates achieve what they deserve and allows them to go to the next phase of their lives."